


Snickerdoodles

by xylaria



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Chromatic Yuletide, F/F, Gen, Missus Clause Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-16
Updated: 2011-12-16
Packaged: 2017-10-27 09:52:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/294435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xylaria/pseuds/xylaria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One displaced Victorian, the Internet, and modern kitchen appliances did not mix well, Leena thought ruefully. But they sure would make a good beginning to a joke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snickerdoodles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ladymordecai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladymordecai/gifts).



> Thanks to curiouslyfic and [redacted] and [redacted] for beta!

There was laughter coming from the kitchen, and Leena looked at her watch to double-check the time. No, it really was 6:30am on a Sunday morning.

Poking her head around the door, Leena clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud at the ridiculous scene. The kitchen was a mess. There were mixing bowls and spoons and measuring cups everywhere, and batter from something had been sprayed over all the cabinets and was dripping from the light fixture over the center island.

In the middle of it all, covered in flour and still in their pajamas, Myka and Helena were working at the counter. Helena was scooping dough from a bowl and rolling it into balls, which Myka then rolled in something before placing on a cookie sheet.

They were intent on each other and their work, and Leena took a moment to slip her phone from her pocket and take a picture. Or two. Slipping her phone back into her pocket, she stepped fully into the doorway.

"So, what are you guys making? And, uh, what happened?" she asked, waving a hand to indicate the mess. She wished she'd kept her phone out when Helena and Myka started, jumping apart and brushing frantically at the flour in their hair.

"And where did you get those aprons?" she added as she came around the island and saw more fully what they are both wearing. Myka had on her standard flannel pajamas and bunny slippers, over which she was wearing a hot pink frilly apron covered in pictures of kittens. Next to her, Helena was wearing a high-necked Victorian nightgown, a bright red apron with "Hot Lesbian Baking Action" written across the front, and… "Are those koala slippers?"

Leena had to stifle a laugh again at Helena shuffling her feet, trying to hide the slippers under the edge of her nightgown. The self-confident agent had never looked so abashed before. Fortunately for Helena, Myka came to her rescue.

"Today is Christina's birthday, so we're celebrating by making her favorite cookies and teaching Helena about this century's childhood rituals."

The grief that rippled across Helena's aura at the mention of her daughter drained all the mirth out of Leena.

"I think making cookies is a great way to celebrate," Leena said gently. She walked over and laid her hand on Helena's shoulder, gratified at the watery smile she received and the slight brightening of her aura.

"I told Helena that in the 21st century it is acceptable to make cookies in one's pajamas, and that silly slippers are a critical part of the ensemble. She did refuse the teddy bear pajamas, though," Myka said, giving Helena an exasperated look, which Helena maturely returned by sticking out her tongue.

Leena smiled at their antics, it was good that they were taking some time to have fun and celebrate. "And the aprons?" Now it was Myka's turn to shuffle her feet. "And how did batter get on the ceiling?" That had both of them examining the ceiling, and Leena sat and admired the interesting ripples in their auras for a moment as they both burst out with explanations simultaneously.

"How was I supposed to know that they would keep going after I took them out of the batter, everything else is automatic."

And,

"I was just trying to showing Helena how to look things up on the Internet and she..."

They looked at each other, looked at Leena, and all three burst out laughing. Finally, once she caught her breath, Leena asked, "Anything I can do to help? Other than fetch a ladder?" That set them off again and Leena was nearly as covered with flour as Helena and Myka when she levered herself off the floor to get the ladder. She set it up next to the island under the light fixture and began to clean off the batter as Helena and Myka finished putting cookies on the tray and stuck them in the oven.

"On her birthday, Christina would get me up at the crack of dawn to make snickerdoodles with her,” Helena reminisced, a look of wistfulness on her face. “She’d jump on my bed and steal the covers until I got up and then ask me every two minutes if I was ready yet while I was dressing,” She added, wrinkling her nose and then glaring when Myka laughed. “Then, once they were made, she would run off to play with her dolls and leave me and Lottie, our cook, to stoke the oven and clean up the mess," Helena said, filling the sink with water and beginning to wash the dishes. Myka snaked her arm into the sink to nab the dishwasher-safe items and began loading the dishwasher. "As soon as the cookies were out, she would show up again to eat them. She would very generously leave two for me and one for Lottie." Helena finished with a laugh, flicking soapsuds at Myka as Myka tried to take the bowl she had been washing.

Leena glanced down from the ladder as she worked on cleaning the tops of the cabinets. Helena's aura swirled purple and blue: sad, but not overly so, and with flicks of yellow joy and deep red contentment. They worked in companionable silence for a bit, and Leena was wondering if she should leave the two of them alone when Myka spoke.

"Snickerdoodles are my dad's favorite cookies. When I was a kid we used to make them for him for his birthday. I think my mom still does.” Myka closed the dishwasher and started it, before grabbing a rag and starting to clean the counters. “He would sit in his chair in the living room reading while we baked and then we would bring him a plate of cookies and a big glass of milk. But we always made two batches and we'd go back to the kitchen after he ate his and eat the second batch ourselves.” Myka laughed quietly. “Once we tried to put a candle in them." Leena glanced down in time to see Myka make a face and Helena roll her eyes. "That didn't work so well."

"My father - " Helena was interrupted by the buzzing of the timer announcing that the cookies were ready. Myka immediately tossed her rag onto the counter and just beat Helena in snatching the hot pads from their hook.

Leena, climbing down the ladder, marveled at the matching washes of calm contentment that spread over Helena and Myka's auras as the smell of the cookies filled the kitchen. The power of smell on people never ceased to amaze her, though for her it was bread, rather than cookies, that held those memories.

Helena claimed the spatula while Myka was pulling the cookies from the oven and began distributing them onto plates. Leena folded up the ladder and put it away in the closet down the hall, once again debating whether she should leave the two their own devices. Deciding that she shouldn’t just disappear (and hoping for a cookie) Leena closed the closet door and went back to the kitchen. Helena and Myka sat at the center island, still wearing their aprons and covered in flour, contentedly munching cookies with large glasses of milk. Smiling Leena stood in the doorway once again, tempted to take out her phone and take another picture.

Before she got a chance Myka looked up and spotted her. "Come, join us Leena." She pushed the third plate of cookies towards her, then a glass that Leena realized was filled with soy milk. "As much as I'm loath to admit it, Helena's snickerdoodle recipe really is the best I've ever had." Helena smirked until Myka added, "Even if she can't use basic kitchen appliances."

“Well, I’d like to see you trying to cook in my old kitchen,” Helena responded primly, an effect which was entirely spoiled by her milk mustache. “There’s a reason Lottie helped with Christina’s birthday cookies.”

“Ah, but you are in my time, and since you didn’t actually get the time machine to work reliably, I am not likely to be in yours.” Myka replied, mimicking Helena’s hauteur.

Leena smiled, sitting down to join them. “Careful, Myka, someone might think you’re issuing a challenge.”

Their laughter once again rang through the house.

**Author's Note:**

> (unbetaed) Bonus scene:  
> Myka typed in her password and opened the browser. “We’ll just Google it, there’ll be pictures.”
> 
> “Google it?” Helena asked quizzically, coming up to watch the computer screen over Myka’s shoulder.
> 
> “It’s a search function that allows you to search specific keywords on the internet.” Myka said, realizing that she had no better idea how to explain the internet to someone who was born over a century ago than she had had how to explain a butch lesbian. Instead of tying herself into knots she decided that a demonstration was the best explanation and typed ‘butch lesbian’ into the search box and then selected images. Helena leaned closer over her shoulder.
> 
> “What is that?!”


End file.
